


everything is going to be alright, no bribery needed

by blazingmushroom



Series: music runs in the family [1]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: David Being David (Camp Camp), Max (Camp Camp) is a Little Shit, Max is David's son you idiots., NOT m/a/x/v/i/d, Teaching your son how to play an instrument, While also teaching healthy coping mechanisms, dadvid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 16:27:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20474057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blazingmushroom/pseuds/blazingmushroom
Summary: "What the absolute fuck.""I thought we could have a one-on-one camp activity," David said, sitting down on the wooden docks next to Max, holding an instrument out to him to inspect. "You always seemed interested whenever I pulled out my guitar, and-""If you think for a single second that I would even consider liking your campfire songs, then you're more of an idiot than you look."





	everything is going to be alright, no bribery needed

Positivity wasn't always a good thing. That lesson was one of the many things David learned during his time at Camp Campbell. It didn't necessarily mean that it was a bad thing either, goodness no. There was a time and place for everything, and positivity certainly fit into that category. 

Because, sometimes, one wouldn't be able to look at the bright side of things. There was no such thing as an eternal optimist, no matter how much he himself tried. You can't force someone to be happy or to enjoy themselves. Sometimes, you don't even have to understand something to accept it.

Which is why David focused on being kind. Empathetic. Understanding. Open-minded. Any problem or situation he considered minor could be monumental to someone else. Sometimes the best solution was to hear people out. 

Which is why...

"What the absolute fuck."

"I thought we could have a one-on-one camp activity," David said, sitting down on the wooden docks next to Max, holding an instrument out to him to inspect. "You always seemed interested whenever I pulled out my guitar, and-"

"If you think for a single second that I would even consider liking your campfire songs, then you're more of an idiot than you look."

David almost chuckled at that. He would never dare to think that."Perhaps not campfire songs, but you always paid attention to the way I pressed the chords, so I thought you might want to give it a try!"

Scowling, Max slouched further into his jacket, burying his hands into the pocket. This was highly suspicious. Rarely did Gwen or David ever give out 'one-on-one` camp activities, excluding the swimming lessons some had to take. It usually meant that only one counselor would be alone in controlling all nine campers. 

And if it was David doing a solo activity with him, then that only meant...

"You piece of shit." Max watched David's smile drop. "This is just some gimmick to get me interested in an activity, isn't it? To get me interested in a camp now that you have me alone or something right?" Max stood up from the pier they were sitting on. He turned around to leave the docks. "Well, you can take your stupid guitar and shove it up your ass. I'm going back to the others." 

"Max, wait-"

"Hard pass."

"You don't have to-"

"I said no!" Max practically spat out, hoping David could here the amount of contempt and scorn he had for this conversation.

"You just have to try it once!" David finished, making Max stop in his tracks. "If you truly don't want to, I'll respect that choice. But I want you to try it out, and who knows?" At this, David flashed him a small smile and raised the guitar for his camper to see. "You might even enjoy it!"

Max nearly glared at him for the last statement. He would rather kill himself than fall into whatever trick David thought he was pulling, but he stepped closer to him to peer at the instrument in his hands. 

The guitar had certainly seen better days. The neck was chipped in places, and Max could see cracks in the body of the guitar. He remembered the guitar breaking a total of three times in this summer alone, and yet it still seemed to be in working condition.

"It still works well, if that's what you're thinking," David explained as if reading his mind. "I replaced the strings recently. It rattles a tad, and it needs to be sanded down, but it's nothing a little varnish could solve." 

"It would need a lot more than a little." Max snarked, before crossing his arms, displaying that he was still not entirely convinced. "I don't care whatever bribe you sell me, you're not gonna make me play that."

David hummed. "I'll give you an extra helping of dessert for a whole week. How does that sound?"

"Dessert isn't going to cut it, David. You'll have to try harder than that."

"...how about an extra helping of dessert-"

"Oh, come on." Max groaned, rolling his eyes at the weak gamble. "You mean to tell me that you don't have a better deal than that?"

"-until the end of the summer." David finished. "Plus some extra guitar lessons if you happen to enjoy them."

Which was never going to happen.

Max glanced at the guitar again and pursed his lips at the thought of touching it. This conversation was going nowhere, and if this was the best he was going to get, then he would have to settle for it.

"Deal." Max forced out, glaring at the way David seemed to perk up at the agreement. "But I'll let you know that I won't enjoy it."

"The fact that you're going to try it out is quite enough for me. So are you right or left-handed?"

Max sat back on the dock, crossing his legs. "What difference does that make?"

"I'm glad you asked!" David held up the guitar to Max's eye-level, forcing the latter to take in the instrument at all of its glory. "Normally, your dominant hand it the one you use while strumming. Which is why there is a difference in how guitars are tuned. If a left-handed person played a right-handed guitar, the chords they played would turn out vastly different, due to the tuning not be of their category."

"Oh. Okay then. I'm right-handed." Max answered, covering up how overwhelmed he was by the sudden splurge of information. Really, he was mostly intimidated by how huge the instrument was compared to himself.

"Oh goody! So am I. That means we can start straight ahead without any obstacles. I'll teach you about tuning later, but I think-"

"The obstacle would be me even holding that thing." Max murmured, eyeing the size of the instrument. "Would I even be able to reach the strings and strum at the same time?"

David stopped his explanation and took that piece of information into consideration. While what Max said was true, it certainly wasn't the obstacle he expected. He definitely foresaw Max being uneasy about the prospect of it, but not flat-out being unable to.

"David? You okay?" Max called out, raising an eyebrow at the lack of a response he was getting. He uncrossed his legs, getting ready to bolt in case he had to. "Did I fucking break you or something? Did the possibility of thing being too...big for me to handle really slip your mind? Don't they sell smaller guitars or something?"

A solution suddenly dawned on to him.

"Max, wait right here!" David jumped up from the pier and started running towards camp. "I'll be back in a jiffy, so don't go anywhere."

Max huffed at the instructions. "As if I'd listen to you," he mumbled to himself, before noticing the guitar David left behind. 

Perhaps it was from boredom or some form of curiosity, but Max picked up the guitar and placed in on his lap. He was right when he thought the guitar would be too damn large for him. His hand could barely reach the neck of it. 

From what he remembered, David would normally strum with some kind of pick, but he seemed to have taken it with him back to camp, which meant Max would have to do without.

Max used his thumb to strum the six strings of it, before proceeding to flick each one individually. The guitar was probably already tuned, so Man didn't attempt to fool around with it.

After a few minutes, David came back, with another, much smaller instrument in hand.

"I'm surprised you didn't wander off." 

"I don't break my deals unless I deem them unnecessary." Max smoothly replied, trying to catch a better glimpse of the instrument David held. "is that-"

"A ukulele? Why yes, it is!" David finished, unsure if Max knew what it was. "Have you ever heard or seen one before?"

Max eyed the ukulele suspiciously. "Some people I know would play them sometimes," he said vaguely, putting his hands back into his pockets. "How different are they from a guitar?" 

"They're related, but they're turned differently, and have different chords. Oh! And one of them is smaller." Settling down next to Max, David placed the uke against his knee, so Max could compare the two instruments between them. "Now the uke has four strings, while the guitar has six. I noticed you strumming the guitar earlier with your finger and-"

"I don't need a pick to play the uke, right?" Max interrupted, glancing between the guitar and the mentioned ukulele. The strings were all so different in thickness and length.

"That's right!" David praised. He tried his best to hide the amount of excitement he had for this activity. The fact that Max was even asking questions clearly displayed how interested he was in the lesson, and they haven't even started yet! "I'm sorry that we're not going to play the guitar like you were interested in, but if you learn how to play the ukulele first, it might be easier to learn the guitar later, so-"

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Max played off, waving off any of David's apologies. "You still owe me those helpings of desserts though. So don't you dare forget about them,"

"I wouldn't dream of it," David said fondly, before picking up the ukulele to place on Max's lap in exchange for the guitar. "Now go ahead and strum it, but with your index finger." 

Max begrudgingly followed David's instructions. The first and last strings were notably of a higher pitch than the two middle strings, and the second string was the definitely of a lower pitch.

While Max fiddled around with the strings, David explained more about the ukulele. "This is just the first lesson, so I'm going to teach you the proper way to hold it, and how to properly hold some chords. I'll teach you how to tune if you want to continue lessons."

"Where'd you even get this thing?" Max questioned, trying to ignore the implication of David offering him more lessons. 

"Oh! It used to be Gwen's, actually."

That tidbit made Max stop playing. "Gwen?" he sounded out, trying to sound less surprised than how he actually felt. "But...doesn't she hate it when you play the guitar?" 

"I wouldn't say that she hates it but..." David hummed and nodded to himself. "She definitely has a talent for the musical arts. That actually used to be her old uke before from a year ago. I was almost afraid that she didn't have it."

"Basically...I'm using an old artifact of Gwen's." Max summed up, now looking at the ukulele for some wear and tear. "How come she never plays? I thought that was kind of a thing around here, with you playing every chance you get."

"Oh trust me, I've tried to convince her in the past to play some for you kids. But I guess she doesn't like having an audience, and I can respect that." David smiled, remembering the last time he heard his co-counselor play the instrument. "She's pretty darn incredible at it. But I guess we're our own worst critics."

"Wow. You used the word 'darn`," Max mocked. "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth."

"Oh, hush you." David scolded good-naturedly. "I think it's about time we started teaching you how to play some chords. We've spent enough time dilly-dallying."

"Aw shit. My master plan to distract you failed." Inwardly, Max was beginning to shudder in disgust at how normal their banter was becoming. There was usually more arguing involved, none of this civil, non-offensive bullshit. "Speaking of playing, am I even holding this thing correctly?"

"Turn this way." Max sat in a way where he was facing David directly, but he couldn't help but back up a bit. "Seems good. And it fits you perfectly too." David nodded to himself, before picking up his guitar to mimic his camper's positioning. "Now you notice the bridges on the neck? Those are called frets. I want you to press the fourth string on the third fret with your...ring finger. Like this." On his guitar, David pressed the sixth string on the third fret, to which Max mimicked.

"Very good, Max." David commended. "Now I want you to strum a few times, up and down, using your index finger. Copy my movements. I'm going to be using my fingers instead of a pick, but I'm not going to directly play. I want you to get into the rhythm of it."

And with that, they began strumming. Max tried to be patient with the strumming, but his index finger kept on getting stuck at the strings and ruining the rhythm of chord. His chord also sounded flat, as if the finger he was using to press down on the fret was stopping the vibration of the string. 

Plus, it was starting to hurt.

Noticing the frustration growing on his camper's face, at the clenching of his jaw, David called out. "Try flicking your wrist instead of moving your entire arm or just your fingers. And for the chord, press as hard as you can."

Max took a deep breath and carried onward, trying to follow the directions as best ss he could. He trained his eyes to the movements of David's hand, and not on the repeating twang of the ukulele. Once he pressed down harder, Max could feel the chord burying itself into the skin of his fingerpad, and he tried his best to ignore the growing pain in his finger.

After a few agonizing minutes, David finally stopped and Max took that as his cue to stop as well. "Is playing supposed to make your hands hurt, or is that just a secondary punishment?"

David smiled and nodded, making his camper groan in annoyance. "I'll have to say though, you did much better than I did. I wasn't able to hold that chord for more than two minutes. You did five. And oh! That was called a C-chord, by the way."

"Yeah yeah, stop trying to butter me up, or whatever you're doing." Max waved off, not believing the praise David was giving him.

"My tip for holding the chords is to hold them down with your fingertips, not the pads." David let out a small sigh after noticing that Max was only half-listening. "Show me your fingers, real quick."

Now that certainly grabbed Max's attention. "What? No. Why?"

As an example, David brought up his own hands to show Max. He rubbed a thumb over his fingertips. "As you play, you begin to develop callouses." He used a nail to pick at the dead skin hanging off one of his fingers. "It's going to hurt in the beginning, but you'll get used to it. Your hands will improvise, adapt and overcome. Kind of like people."

"Now is not the time to a life lesson." Rolling his eyes, Max peered at his counselor's hands. "So I have to use my fingertips? Not my fingerpads?"

"That's right," David confirmed, setting his hands down to pick up the guitar again. "I remember times when my fingertips would bleed from pressing too hard or would peel from strumming."

Max picked up his own hands to look at them, trying to imagine seeing the rough patches of tough skin of them, and could actually see him liking it. "Cool."

"As cool as pain from progression goes, it's pretty up there. How about I teach you how to play a few more chords, and then we'll call it a day?"

Max nodded, positioning himself to hold the uke correctly. The two played basic chords for up to an hour, those bein the A minor-chord, F-chord, and G-chord.

"You're doing good, Max." David praised, watching Max hold down the G-chord as best as he could. "Remember, use your fingertips."

Max grit his teeth and pressed down even harder onto the chords, making sure his fingers didn't run into each other. He kept an eye on his strumming, making sure his fingernail didn't get caught on any of the strings.

After another two minutes, the two stopped strumming, and David began to clap his hands. "Well done, Max. You did really well." 

Max took a deep breath and relaxed, feeling all the tension leave his body. "My fingers hurt," he complained, shooting a glare to his mentor.

"You'll get used to it." David reminded, "That is...if you want to continue these lessons."

"Ugh." Max grumbled at the prospect of more lessons. While this was, admittedly, more enjoyable than he thought it would be, he didn't really feel like saying that just yet. But David's company wasn't too awful.

Hell, this lesson was actually rather nice, not like he would ever say that though.

"Fine."

"Fantastic!" David cheered, shining a smile to him. "We'll have lessons every other day, and you can keep the ukulele if you ever want to practice between lessons."

"Right." Max grabbed hold of the instrument, marveling at the fact that he would be able to keep it. At least until Gwen wanted it back, or the end of camp.

"Now I think it's time we headed back to the mess hall. I heard the campers walk in there a couple of minutes ago."

They both stood up and started walking off the pier.

"Has it really been two hours?" 

"Yup. I get that feeling a lot. Playing an instrument tends to distra-"

"Holy shit. I just learned how to play an instrument." Max realized, the last two hours finally catching up to him. 

"That, you did. And are. And I'm really proud off you!" David continued, using a hand to mess up Max's hair, making the latter almost swing the ukulele at him.

"Har har, very funny."

"I am! Really!" David retracted his hand. "You tried something new! And you really seemed to like it! Who knows? You might continue playing the ukulele in the future. Maybe even the guitar!"

"Don't put too much faith in me. I can and will disappoint you."

"You exceeded my expectations today. And with what I said before you interrupted me, playing an instrument is a good stress reliever. It can distract you, or you can vent into it. It's a useful strategy."

Max looked down to the ukulele in his hands and realized just how focused he was on it in the past few hours. He legitimately forgot about everything except for the lesson. "That is...freaky."

"True, and-"

"And kind of fucked up."

They arrived to the mess hall, and Max quickly relocated with Neil and Nikki, who told him the events of Art Camp, while Max brought up his ukulele lesson.

Meanwhile, David and Gwen talked to each other in the corner of the room, keeping a close watch on the campers.

"So how'd he like the ukulele?"

"I have a hunch that he's going to get used to it." David smiled as he watched Max hold down the chords the way he taught him, while Neil and Nikki talked about their day.

"Really?" After watching David nod, Gwen let out a huff of satisfaction as she also watched Max from the corner of her eye. "Wow. I think you might have been right this time."

"Nah. But I'm glad to see him enjoying himself."

Gwen continued to watch the brat converse with his friends. "Pinch me if I'm wrong, but I think this is the most relaxed I've ever seen the little shit."

"Same here. It's a good sight though. I can't complain."

A scoop of mashed potatoes hit Gwen in the face and David in the chest.

"TAKE A PICTURE YOU CREEPY FUCKS!"

"..but I can."

**Author's Note:**

> the amount of dialouge in this is the most social interaction i had inawhile.  
Comments are nice! And lovely! And criticism is needed. Badly.


End file.
